


Road to Achievement City

by rejectedusername



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, References to Aztec Religion & Lore, Treasure Hunting, on hiatus till next semester probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-07-14 02:32:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16031153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rejectedusername/pseuds/rejectedusername
Summary: Achievement Hunters are a group of treasure hunters who have been searching for the ruins of Achievement City for ages. Jack finds an old map in his parents’ attic that may be the key to finally finding the ruins. The journey ahead may be long, but at least they’ll be traveling down the right road this time.





	1. Maps Found

Jack Pattillo was taking a leave from work for the weekend. As for his job, he was part of an internationally know group of treasure hunters called the “Achievement Hunters,” working as navigator and tool master. They had found many treasures such as “La couette d’or,” and “The Oak Island money pit,” but they had not found their major find, yet.

The treasure that the group was still looking to find was the treasure that the group was named after. The founder of the group, Geoff Ramsey, named the group, “Achievement Hunters,” after the Ciudad de Lorgo, or “Achievement City,” in English. The group knew it was somewhere in Mexico or South America, but every trail they had tracked had led to a dead end. The group continued to search for “Achievement City,” though Jack needed to take a break for the weekend, seeing as it was his father’s birthday.

When he arrived at his parents’ house in Dallas for his father’s birthday, his mother immediately put him to work cleaning out their attic, saying they didn’t need all the extra stuff in their old age. Jack went straight up to the attic, thinking it would kill time before his older brother arrived from Georgia.

Jack dug around in the attic, looking for things he thought would be good to keep and what could be given away or trashed. He found lots of old sports equipment and photos of he and his brother when they were kids. He saved the pictures. He found the pictures of when his mother and older brother met his father, and decided that that would be good to keep since it was his father’s birthday.

As he kept digging into the past, he found a box labeled A. Haywood. He assumed that whoever A. Haywood was, was probably his brother’s father. He assumed that his mother probably didn’t want that box anymore, but he saw some things sticking out of it. Out of curiosity, he rifled through its contents. He saw pictures of his mother with a man who looked like his brother, only douchier. He found baby pictures of his brother, which he thought would be good to keep, but the rest of the box could be trashed.

He grabbed the box to throw it out, when another item in the box caught his eye. He set the box down and pulled out the item, which was a map. The map was very aged, so he carefully blew the dust off of it. It looked like a map of Northern Mexico. Then he read the name of the map, “ _Mapa de la Ciudad del Logro_.” He let out a loud gasp.

“Honey?” his mother called from downstairs.

“Mom? Mom!” he excitedly called back.

His mom climbed up into the attic. “What happened sweet-” she cut herself off when she saw the A. Haywood box. “Oh, Christ…”

“Mom, do you know what this is?!”

“It’s a box of Allan Haywood’s stuff that he didn’t take with him in the divorce. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten rid of it yet,” Jack’s mom said, annoyed.

“No, I mean, do you know what this is?” he asked, emphasizing the map.

Jack’s mom looked over the map. “A map of northern Mexico?’

“No. it’s the _Mapa de la Ciudad del Logro_ , or a map to Achievement City! Mom, this is what the Achievement Hunters have been looking for!”

“Here’s to hoping it won’t lead to another dead end,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Mom, can I take this map to Geoff?” Jack asked.

Jack’s mom sighed. “I would say yes, but if that map was anybody in this family’s property, it’d be your brother’s. You’d have to ask him.”

Jack nodded. “I can do that when I go pick him up from the airport in an hour.”

“Actually, your father and I would like to join you, seeing as it’s been a bit since we’ve seen him.”

“That’s fine-”

“AND, I’d prefer it if you didn’t bring up my ex-husband in front of your father. It wouldn’t be a very nice thing to be talking about on his birthday.”

Jack sighed. “Fine.”

“Good. Now I see you have set aside all the pictures and knick-knacks that we should keep. I’ll help you take the garbage down so we can throw it out.”

Jack nodded and they took the garbage out of the attic and threw it away. Once they were done, Jack and his parents drove to the airport to pick up his brother, Ryan. Ryan caught up with his parents, in the back, while Jack eagerly tapped his free foot in anticipation of getting to talk to Ryan.

Once they all got home, Ryan unloaded his bag from the car an everyone went inside. Once everyone got inside, Jack cornered Ryan. “Ryan, there’s something I need to ask you,” he said.

“I’m doing well and it’s nice to get to visit everyone, thanks for asking,” Ryan replied.

“No, that wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

“Daw, and here I thought you cared about me,” Ryan said, pouting in fake hurt.

“No, I do care about you. I love you, you’re a great older brother, and I’m glad we get to hang this weekend,” Jack said, defending himself

“Aw, I love you too, li’l bro,” Ryan said.

“It’s just that, I found something really cool today while cleaning the attic today, and I need your permission to use it.”

“Alright, what is it?”

Jack grabbed Ryan’s arm. “Come here, I’ll show you,” he said as he started to pull Ryan away.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Ryan yelped. Jack stopped pulling him. “Can I at least unpack, first?”

Jack nodded. “I’ll help you unpack. Then I’ll show you.”

They went to Ryan’s room and unpacked Ryan’s stuff. Once done, Ryan turned to Jack. “Alright, so what is it that you wanted to show me?”

“It’s in my room, come on,” Jack said, waving Ryan to follow him.

They walked to Jack’s room. Jack rushed over to his bed and grabbed the _Mapa de la Ciudad del Logro_. “A map in Spanish?” Ryan asked. Then he face-palmed. “God, more of your treasure hunting BS…”

“No listen. This is a map to Achievement City. This is what the Achievement Hunters have been looking for!”

“I’m glad you found that map, but what does that have to do with me? Or were you just eager to show me that you found it?”

Jack sighed. “When I was cleaning the attic today for Mom, I found this box with stuff that belonged to your dad-”

“Hey, no. Steven Pattillo, the man who raised the two of us and whose birthday it is, is the only dad I have, as far as I’m concerned.

“Fine. The box belonged to your biological father. I found this map in the box, and Mom said I would have to ask you if I wanted to use it.”

Ryan stroked his chin, pondering how he should respond. “Hm, treasure hunting is a bit tricky. And every time you think you’re on track to Achievement City, it’s just a dead end…”

“Dude, the Achievement Hunters have found legendary treasure before, like King John’s Jewels. It’s just Achievement City that’s been giving us trouble,” Jack argued.

“And you need my permission to use this map, that will probably lead you to another dead end, to find Achievement City?”

“Please, Ryan.” Jack pleaded.

Ryan looked at is brother and sighed. “Fine,” he agreed.

“YES!” Jack cheered. “I need to call Geoff-”

“Before you do that, I just want to let you know, I want a part of this hunt.”

“You are a part because you’re letting us use the map.”

“No, I mean I want to go on this hunt with you guys. You’ve always been excited about treasure hunting, and I want to know what all the hype is about. So, I want to see the treasure hunt for myself.”

“Oh, cool! It’ll be fun to go on a treasure hunt with my big bro. I’ll call Geoff to tell him about all this-”

“DINNER!” their mom called from the other room.

“-After dinner.”

“Come on, let’s go eat. It was a long day and I’m starving,” Ryan said.

“Let’s. Oh, and don’t worry, Mom and Dad got Diet Coke for you,” Jack replied.

“Yes! I love this family!” Ryan exclaimed. Jack and Ryan walked out of the room to dinner, with smiles on their face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes about this AU to start with, Jack and Ryan are half-brothers. Their mom divorced her first husband (Ryan’s dad) right after Ryan was born, because he was a sleaze-bag, and remarried with Jack’s dad (soon had Jack after).


	2. Meetings Had

Jack called Geoff after family dinner that night and told him that he needed to get to Achievement Hunter headquarters in Austin as soon as possible. Jack said he would be there in the morning and that he was bringing his older brother along as a part of the hunt. Geoff agreed, and Jack and Ryan were set to head down to Austin in the morning. Ryan was reluctant to travel, seeing as he wanted to spend time with their dad for his birthday, but Jack argued that they’d have all weekend with their dad, and this was just a day trip. Ryan agreed, after that.

After Ryan was woken up early by an excited Jack the next morning, they drove the 3-hour drive to the Achievement Hunter headquarters. Once they arrived, Ryan followed Jack to a meeting room. There were three younger men sitting at the meeting table. One had curly auburn hair and what seemed like a permanent scowl on his face. The next man was lanky, had messy dark blonde hair, and a rather large nose. The last man was short, bald, and muscular; and he looked vaguely familiar.

“Morning Lads,” Jack greeted the men as he and Ryan entered the room.

“Morning, Jack,” the curly-haired man replied in return.

“Did Geoff run off to do something?”

“News of another lead on finding Achievement City must have given him a boner and he’s getting B-Team ready for the map. Speaking of which, who’s the douchebag holding it?”

“This douchebag happens to be joining us on the treasure hunt. He’s my older brother—”

“RYAN!” the short man interrupted, rushing over to Ryan. “I missed my Battle Buddy.”

“Battle Buddy…” Ryan questioned and the man gave him a huge hug. “Jeremy?” The man nodded. “Jeremy, it’s been years! You’ve gotten so big, but not very tall.” Jeremy released the hug and punched Ryan in the shoulder.

“You know him?” the curly-haired man asked.

“Yeah, he used to babysit me, when I was a kid,” Jeremy replied.

“Alright, so you already know Ryan, Jeremy. Why don’t you introduce yourselves, Michael and Gavin, and explain what you do in the group,” Jack said.

“Well, I’m Michael,” the curly-haired man started. “I do explosives and pyrotechnics for navigating through tough obstacles.”

“You already know me, but I do a lot of the heavy lifting for treasure hunts. I mostly just help out with whatever needs extra help,” Jeremy explained.

“Mm-hm,” Ryan replied with a nod. Then he looked at the last man. “And what about you?” he asked.

The last man looked at him. Ryan noticed that the new man was staring at him, looking lost in thought. He had no idea if the man was thinking or judging him, or he was just staring into space.

“Gavin!” Michael said, elbowing the man. “Introduce yourself!”

The man snapped out of his gaze and coughed. “I’m Vav… uh, I mean… Gavin,” he stuttered.

“Smooth,” Jeremy teased.

Michael stared at Gavin, wide-eyed. “Dude…” he mouthed.

“And what is your job in the group?” Ryan asked.

“I, uh, do teach. I mean, tech. Bollocks…” Gavin continued to stutter.

“Oh, cool. I work for a tech support company, so maybe I could be your assistant or something,” Ryan suggested with a smile.

“I… uh…” Gavin started. Then he shut his mouth and started to rapidly nod his head up and down.

“Okay…”

“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” Michael whispered to Gavin.

“I have no idea what you’re on about,” Gavin whispered back.

“You’re staring at Jack’s brother.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. Do you think he’s hot or something? Because you look like you’re in love or something?”

“What? I mean, he is a rather handsome bloke…”

“Did you just get smitten with Jack’s older brother?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe?”

“What, you gonna try to get drunk with him and ask him out?”

“I don’t know…”

Michael looked up at Ryan. “Hey Ryan, hypothetically would you wanna go out for a drink some time?” he asked.

“Hypothetically? Well… I don’t drink…” Ryan replied, confused.

Michael turned back to Gavin. “So, getting drunk with him won’t work for you,” he whispered.

“I don’t know if I can interact with someone so bloody handsome without getting distracted,” Gavin whispered back.

“Well, you still need you get shit done. You gotta try acting more confident and assertive if you’re nervous about being distracted.”

“I’m not sure I’ve very good about—”

“Hey what are you guys whispering about?” Ryan interrupted to ask.

“Oh, ignore them. it’s always ‘Team Nice Dynamite’ against the world,” Jack said.

“‘Team Nice Dynamite.’ “

“What they call themselves.”

“Ah.”

“Well, since Mavin is over there gossiping, we can catch up,” Jeremy said.

“Mavin?”

“I got good news, everyone!” a new man said as he entered the room. He had dark brown hair, tired eyes, and was covered in tattoos.

“Nice of you to finally join us, Geoff,” Jack said.

“I don’t need your sass, Jack.” Then he turned to Ryan. “And you must be the techy brother who has the map to Achievement City.” He walked over and offered his hand. “Geoff Ramsey.”

“Ryan Haywood-Pattillo,” Ryan introduced in return, shaking Geoff’s hand.

“So, what was this good news you had for us?” Jack asked.

“Well, B-Team zoomed in on the picture of the map you took on your phone and determined it wouldn’t be a very long trip to find the treasure after all,” Geoff explained.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked.

“Everyone, come gather around the pic on my phone so I can show you.”

“You know,” Ryan said as he pulled out the map. “I have the actual map with me.”

“Damn, that makes things easier. Lay it out on the table,” he said. Ryan nodded an rolled the map out. Everyone gathered around the map. “Alright. So, it looks like it’s about a five-hour drive from Austin to the Mexico border. Then an hour south and five more hours west and we should be there.”

“Okay, so, this treasure isn’t very far away…” Michael said.

“Now that we have the map in person, B-Team should be able to get more of their shit together.”

“Meaning?” Gavin asked.

“If we give B-Team the weekend to work, we should be on our way to finding Achievement City by Monday!”

“Monday!?” Ryan yelped.

“Yeah, Monday. What’s the problem with that?”

“It’s just that, I was only supposed to be in town for Jack’s and my father’s birthday and I was supposed to fly back to Georgia on Sunday. And I’m pretty sure Jack told you that I wanted to be a part of this treasure hunt because the map technically belongs to me.”

Jack sighed. “I did tell you that Ryan wants to be a part of this, Geoff.”

“So, is it possible that we could do this hunt in a couple months, so I can schedule actual vacation time to take off of work for?”

“Ryan, buddy, I’m sorry dude, but this is what we’ve been searching for, for years. It’s what we name the treasure hunting team after, so we’re going to want to get on this hunt. As soon as possible. So, you have to decide, how important is going on this treasure hunt, to you?” Geoff asked.

“I…” Ryan paused then sighed in defeat. “I’ll go call my boss and tell him that I need the vacation time now, and I’ll be unable to come into work for a couple weeks.”

“Are you absolutely sure you still want to do this?” Jack asked.

“The map is mine, so yeah, I’m sure I want to do this.” Jack gave Ryan a pat on the shoulder and nodded. Ryan smiled and pulled out his cellphone.

“Just remember, you’re not going to be vacationing in this vacation,” Michael joked.

Ryan sighed and exited the room to go make his call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryan's last name is _Haywood-Pattillo_ because his father left his mother and him when he was 6 months old and she remarried Mr. Pattillo soon after.


	3. Plans Made

Ideas surrounding how to approach the hunt for Achievement City were happening faster than Ryan anticipated. This was going to be his first treasure hunt, but he hadn’t realized just how eager the Achievement Hunters would be to find Achievement City. He supposed it had made sense, he just though that they would a least cut him some slack and give him time to prepare for the hunt. But nope, it was go, go, go, for the Hunters.

Just after Ryan had left the room, Geoff had a quick realization. “Wait Ryan, come back!” he yelled out the door.

Ryan re-entered the room, having not yet started his call to his office. “Yes?” he asked.

“Since you’re leaving the room, can you take the map to B-Team, down the hall?”

Ryan rolled his eyes and rolled up the map. He sighed and left the room. “Geoff,” Jack said with a sigh.

“What?”

“This is Ryan’s first treasure hunt. You could try going easy on him.”

“It’s not my fault your brother chose the biggest thing we’ve been searching for to be his first hunt with us!” Geoff exclaimed. Jack sighed again in response.

“So, what’s the plan then?” Michael asked.

“So,” Geoff started. He pulled the picture of the map back up on his phone.

“You know, this would have been easier if you hadn’t sent Ryan with the map back to B-Team,” Jeremy said.

“Hey, how ‘bout shutting the hell up,” Geoff replied with a scowl. Jeremy raised his hands up in defeat. “The drive from Austin to Candela, Mexico, is about five-and-a-half, six hours.”

“Okay, so like a day trip,” Jack said.

“Then we go west to the forest around Ciudad Madera, where the ruins are supposed to be.”

“And, how long should that take?” Gavin asked.

“Well,” Geoff started. He pulled his phone up to look it up. “It looks like it’s almost 14 hours.”

The rest of the hunters groaned in annoyance. “I thought you said only going to be five hours west?!” Michael whined.

“Look I just looked it up on Google Maps. Everything looks closer together on print!”

“This is why I’m the navigator, not you,” Jack replied.

“Fine, you keep being the navigator, I’ll keep leading you, assholes.”

“Sure, because one of us assholes clearly couldn’t do a better job,” Michael taunted.

“I don’t need your sass, Jones.”

“Back! I’m allowed two weeks’ vacation time,” Ryan announced as he re-entered the room. He saw how annoyed everyone was and raised his eyebrow. “Did something happen while I was gone?”

“Yeah, Geoff’s an idiot who can’t estimate travel time,” Jack replied as he rolled his eyes.

“Oh… kay…”

“Right,” Geoff said as he placed his phone back on the table with a picture of the map up.

“Do you want me to just go get the map back from your B-Team again, or—”

“No, no, NO! I got enough sass from your brother! I don’t need it from you, too!”

Ryan raised his hand up in defeat. “I don’t—”

“Just ignore him, he’s being a moody bitch,” Jack said. Geoff harrumphed .

“So, plans. I have a feeling that Geoff was going to say something about them,” Michael said.

“ANYWAY!” Geoff said, pointing to the map on his phone. “Most of the drive will be pretty straightforward. But since it appears that the ruins are gonna be in the forest, we’ll need to take some extra measures while navigating that.”

“I’ll make sure I bring plenty of explosives to blow some trees up,” Michael said.

“I’m not sure that we’re gonna need to blow up the whole forest…”

“Besides, boi, my tracking and scavenging technology can still work in dense forests,” Gavin added.

“What if I got to blow shit up to give you better signal?”

“If I didn’t need you to blow up the Amazon Rainforest for tech signal, I’m definitely not going to need you to blow up this one, which probably isn’t even as dense.”

Michael grumbled. “You’re no fun.”

“If it makes you feel any better, we’ll probably need you to blow up any boulder that might be in our way,” Geoff said.

“Okay, cool. I like you again.”

“Where did that even…” Geoff paused and sighed.

“Okay, I don’t understand what’s going on,” Ryan whispered to Jack.

“This is just typical Achievement Hunter interaction,” Jack whispered back.

“Ah.”

“Hey, if you did get why Michael and Gavin’s whispering earlier, then why are you whispering, now? Sounds hypocritical to me” Jeremy teased, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“I…” Ryan stuttered in embarrassment.

“Ryan just isn’t used to how the Achievement Hunters interact,” Jack explained, coming to Ryan’s rescue.

“Ah, okay,” Jeremy replied, understanding Ryan’s nervousness.

“Okay, so we got Gavin on tech and communication with B-Team, Michael on explosives to help navigate the forest, Jack as lead navigator for the expedition, Jeremy as muscle…” Geoff started to list off everyone’s jobs.

“As muscle, do you think I’ll get to punch any Aztec ghosts on this trip?”

Ryan looked over at Jeremy and skeptically raised an eyebrow. “…What?”

“We’ll see what happens, but if we run into any ghosts that need punching, sure you can punch them,” Geoff replied.

“What?”

“Keep your eyebrows in check, Rye. This all is normal for us,” Jeremy said.

“Oh…”

“So now that we have our official jobs, which are basically our normal hunt jobs, any questions?” Geoff asked. Ryan raised his hand, shyly. “What, newbie?”

“Um… it’s just that… I don’t have a job…,” Ryan replied.

“Hm…” Geoff said as he began to think. “You said you worked for a tech company doing tech support or something, right?”

“Actually, I’m one of the guys who programs initial software and helps design compatible hardware.”

“So, you’re definitely a tech guy.”

“I guess you could say that…”

“Perfect! You can be Gavin’s assistant!”

“What!? No!” Gavin shouted as he jumped out of his seat.

“Well, the map belongs to him and I’m not going to have him do nothing if he’s determined to go on this hunt, so he’s your assistant for the duration of this hunt!” Geoff snapped.

“Bollocks…” Gavin murmured.

“Any other questions?” he asked. He was met with silence. “Perfect. Be ready to go out on the hunt on Monday. Meeting dismissed,” he finished, then he exited the room to take another look at the map.

“Come on, Ryan, let’s go home for the night,” Jack said to Ryan.

“Actually, I’d like to talk to Gavin first about what my job will be,” Ryan replied. Jack nodded and Ryan walked over to Gavin. “Hello, again. I know I introduced myself earlier, but I’d like to formally introduce myself to you. My name is Ryan, I’m Jack’s older half-brother. I work for a tech/computer company. I’m not all that familiar with treasure hunting tech, but I’m looking forward to learning from you.” He held his hand out to shake.

Gavin looked up at Ryan and gulped. It seemed as though Gavin didn’t know how to respond to Ryan’s personal introduction. Ryan could see the wheels turning in Gavin’s head, so he waited patiently for Gavin’s reply. Gavin finally took a deep breath. “Well, if you’re not familiar with this technology, you can’t be useful now, can you?” Gavin rudely replied.

Ryan’s eyebrows rose, he had not expected that harsh of a reply from Gavin. “Well… no,” he started. “That’s why I hoped that you’d teach me on this trip,” he replied, lowering his hand.

“There’s no bloody time to teach on this hunt! It’s just go, go, go!”

“Well, I may not know the tech, but I’m still your assistant. I’m sure I can still be useful.”

“My assistant, huh. Meaning you’ll do whatever you’re told?”

“Sure, we can go with that.”

“Well, task number one for this hunt. Stay the hell out of my way!” Gavin yelled as he turned and stomped out of the room.

Ryan’s eyes followed Gavin out of the room, he really had not expected that harsh of a response from anyone he was going to be working with. “Oh… kay…” he trailed off. He had no idea how that would make things on the rest of the trip.

Jack sighed. “Come on, Rye. Let’s just go home for the night.” Ryan nodded and followed Jack out of the room.

Michael put his face in his hands. “That idiot,” Michael said to himself.

“Wow, Gavin was being a real asshole to Ryan. What gives? Jeremy said.

“That idiot is just a mess.”

“Oh… yeah, I get what you mean.” Neither Michael nor Jeremy knew how to get Gavin to act properly around his obvious infatuation, especially leading into the biggest treasure hunt of their lives.


	4. Hunts Started

The Achievement Hunters were very excited to go on their hunt for the Achievement City ruins. They took the weekend leading up to the following Monday to pack their things. Michael made sure that he had enough explosives for the trip, focusing on the smaller ones since Geoff said, “no big explosions.” Gavin made sure all of is gadgets were charged and ready for the trip. Jeremy practiced boxing so he could be ready to punch a ghost. Jack and Geoff packed up their usual supplies so they could be like the parent figures on the hunt. The only one who wasn’t ready for the hunt was Ryan.

Ryan had known he wanted to be a part of this hunt because the map was his, but he was not prepared to go on the hunt so soon. He had been able to ask his boss for early vacation time, and he had his iPod so he could entertain himself on the car ride, but he was unprepared for the forest hike. He didn’t bring any clothing that would be good for the outdoors with him. Sure, Jack was able to lend him a pair of his old hiking boots, but he didn’t have any other clothes to hike in besides sweatpants. He would just have to make do.

Monday came around and everybody met up back in Austin. Jack and Ryan left Dallas very early in the morning to make sure they made it to Austin by 6am. When they arrived at the Achievement Hunter headquarters, everyone was dressed in outdoor gear except Ryan. “Ryan, buddy, why aren’t you dressed like you’re ready to go on a treasure hunt?” Jeremy asked.

“This whole ‘treasure hunt’ got dropped on me, all of a sudden, and I didn’t really come prepared with clothes for this,” Ryan answered.

“And you didn’t just go out and buy any?” Michael asked.

“Well… no… I was too overwhelmed by the fact that this is all even happening to fast…”

“Did Jack not try to help you?”

“I did,” Jack started, “but he gets into these moods when he’s overwhelmed.”

Geoff rolled his eyes as he listened to the conversation. “Okay, this is stupid. If Ryan gets messed with by a poisonous anything, he has no one to blame but himself. Now if we’re ready to go, let’s get in the van. We’re wasting daylight,” he announced.

“But Geoff, the sun has barely risen,” Gavin replied.

“Shut up and get in the van!”

Everyone got into the van. Jack got into the driver’s seat and Geoff sat next to him in the passenger’s seat. Gavin and Michael sat in the middle row and Jeremy and Ryan sat in the back. “Does anyone have to go to the bathroom before we go?” Jack asked.

“If they have to pee, they can just go in an empty water bottle. Just start this hunt already, Pattillo. We’ve been ready for this for years!” Geoff exclaimed.

Jack turned on the van. “You know, just because you’re excited that we’re trying the Achievement Hunt, again, doesn’t been you have to be bitch to everyone.”

“Heyyo! Get got!” Jeremy yelled from the back. Geoff grumbled as they pulled away from the Achievement Hunter headquarters. Then Jeremy turned to Ryan. “So, are you excited for your first treasure hunt?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I’m not the most outdoorsy type and I thought I’d have more time to prepare myself for this hunt. I look like an idiot that has no idea what they’re doing,” Ryan replied with a sigh.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know, I just thought I’d have more time to get a better idea. How about you, though. What are you excited about on this trip?”

“Besides the obvious?”

“Besides the obvious.”

“Well, I’ve been training and practicing boxing all weekend so I could be ready to punch an Aztec ghost!” Jeremy happily exclaimed.

Ryan rolled his eyes. “You said you wanted to punch a ghost before. How do you intend on punching something that isn’t real?”

“Dude, this definitely is your first treasure hunt since you think ghosts aren’t real.”

“We already knew that, but what does that have to do with knowing you can’t punch ghosts because they’re NOT real?”

“Because if you’d had done this before, you’d know that ghost and ancient magic actually are real.”

Ryan scoffed. “Now you’re just messing with me because this is my first time treasure hunting.”

“Nope, this is all real,” Jeremy argued.

“Right, just tell me if you ‘punch’ one of my Aztec ancestors,” Ryan replied.

“Naw dude,” Michael started as he turned around to face Ryan and Jeremy. “Magic and ghosts are real and we’ve dealt with them before.”

“Really?” Ryan asked, sarcastically.

“Yeah. Gavin had to hold a ‘ghost punching’ intervention for Jeremy.”

“And I told Gavin to shut the fuck up,” Jeremy added.

“What kind of drugs are you all on? Because I don’t want what you all are smoking,” Ryan said.

“Dude, we’re all sober.”

“Even Geoff recently quit drinking,” Michael replied.

“Right…” Ryan said as he rolled his eyes, again.

“Hey Geoff, didn’t you stop drinking booze?” Michael asked Geoff.

“Yeah, I switched to Diet Coke,” he replied.

“And Ryan, you like Diet Coke, too,” Jack added.

“See,” Michael said.

“The fact that Geoff isn’t a drinker anymore isn’t what I’m skeptical about,” Ryan clarified.

“Okay, you don’t believe in magic. Fine. You’ll see magic is real, soon enough,” Michael said.

“Right,” Ryan said as he rolled his eyes, yet again.

“Anyway, you said something about how the Aztec ghost I could punch might be your ancestor,” Jeremy said to change the subject.

“I did say that.”

“You have Aztec heritage?”

“Yeah, I found that out when I did a DNA test a while ago.”

“How far back in your heritage is that, for you?”

“Pretty far. I know I have some roots from Spain on my paternal side. Maybe, they were one of the Spaniards who conquered Mexico and maybe he took an Aztec lover or something. I don’t know.”

“So, you’re not even here for the treasure hunt, then? You’re just here because you wanted to do some family research?” Gavin turned to face the rest of the group and asked angrily.

“What? No! I still want to be a part of this, I just thought that was an interesting fun fact about me. It might even explain why I have the map in the first place,” Ryan replied in an attempt to defend himself.

“It doesn’t bloody matter why you got the map! You don’t know anything about the tech we use to find treasure…”

“Hey, no. I don’t care about finding out more information about my ancestry. And Jack tried to show me how to use some of the technology this weekend, like the various metal detectors and the…”

“You haven’t even bloody scratched the surface of the tech you need to know how to use!”

“You know what, I’m done arguing,” Ryan said as he pulled out his iPod.

“Ryan…” Michael started.

“I SAID I’M DONE!” he exclaimed as he put his earbuds into his ear and started playing music.

“Ryan, buddy,” Jeremy started, but Ryan couldn’t hear him over his music.

Both Jeremy and Michael did double face-palms. Gavin looked at the both of them. “What?” he asked.

“You’re a fucking idiot!” Michael replied with a sigh.

“What? No, I’m not.”

“Yes, Gavin, you are,” Jeremy said.

“You both are rubbish,” Gavin replied with a humph.

“We wouldn’t be rubbish if you would just stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop acting like an immature school boy,” Michael answered.

“What are the two of you on about?” Gavin asked in confusion. Both Michael and Jeremy groaned loudly . Could he really not tell that they knew what was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Geoff started the Achievement Hunters, years ago
> 
> o Geoff is Jack’s best friend  
> o Gavin is like Geoff’s younger brother  
> o Michael and Jeremy are Gavin’s best friends and the three of them all join the Achievement Hunters.  
> o Ryan had babysat for Jeremy when they were younger.  
> o The Hunters have a tech team (B-Team) that normally set stuff up for them and run tech support


	5. Crushes Admitted

Gavin had no idea where Michael and Jeremy’s accusation was coming. He had been nothing but rotten to Ryan, so he had no clue why they assumed that he had a crush on Ryan. That idea was absolutely ridiculous and made no sense at all.

Michael and Jeremy finished their groaning. “Look,” Michael started. “I know that parents tell their little girls in elementary school that the boys are mean to them because they have crushes on them.”

“Alright, yeah. I think I’ve heard that before. But, what would that have to do with the concept of me having a crush on Ryan?” Gavin asked.

“He’s saying that you’re being mean to Ryan because you like him,” Jeremy explained.

“What?! Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?!”

Michael groaned again. He had to think of another way to get Gavin to come clean. “Well, do you not even find him even slightly physically attractive?” he asked. A blush began to bloom on Gavin’s face. “Well, are you gonna answer the question?”

Gavin coughed. “Well, I mean,” he paused and sighed. “I’ll admit he’s a rather handsome bloke. Bit of a ‘Golden God’ looking man, if we’re being honest.”

“So, what, you don’t think a ‘Golden God’ can’t be smart enough to be your assistant. He could only be there to just look pretty. That he can’t be useful?” Michael asked.

“He actually seems decently smart. I mean, he works at a tech company, after all. But I don’t want him to know that I think he could be smart enough do this. Then he’ll get smug and not do a good job.”

“Gavin, I’m pretty sure that that only happens with you,” Jeremy pointed out.

“Don’t be mean, Jeremy.”

“Then, why do you need to be mean to Ryan?” Michael asked as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“It will make him want to prove me wrong. So, he’ll show me how excellent, how smart, how adaptive…” Gavin said as he began to articulate how he thought Ryan could be. He paused as his thoughts became more suggestive and the blush on his face deepened. “…How gorgeous he is…”

“So, you’re being an ass to him because you like him and you believe in him.”

“I...” Gavin gulped.

“You are literally exemplifying the ‘elementary school crush’ thing that Michael explained earlier,” Jeremy pointed out.

“What… NO!”

“Just admit that you have a thing for Ryan,” Michael said.

“A… what?”

“A thing, that you like Ryan.”

“Well, sure I bloody like the man. I just told you that I-”

“NO!” Michael interrupted.

“Michael, calm your shit. We’re not having discussions about romance ESPECIALLY NOT about Jack’s brother,” Geoff called to the back of the van.

“Look, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with friends crushing on my older brother. I’ve learned to ignore it,” Jack replied.

Michael ignored Geoff. “That you like LIKE Ryan!” he exclaimed, staying on topic.

“I… I…” Gavin stuttered.

“Gavin likes Ryan! Gavin like Ryan!” Michael and Jeremy teased in sing-song.

“Can you guys be quitter? I can hear you over my music,” Ryan asked with an annoyed grunt.

“No, you deserve to hear this,” Jeremy replied.

“Doubt that.”

“Come on, don’t you wanna hear Gavin admit his fe-”

“No, I’m just gonna turn my volume up so I don’t have to listen to any of this crap,” Ryan said as he turned the volume of his iPod louder to drown everything out.

“Well, now Ryan isn’t listening to your sappy feelings, so now you can just admit it,” Michael said to get everything back on topic.

“Cut it out, you guys. You’re being immature!”

“The way you’re handling your crush on Ryan is what’s really immature,” Jeremy pointed out in an attempt to turn things around on Gavin.

“The way I’m handling my crush on Ryan is perfectly mature! I’m a mature adult, so I handle my crushes like a mature adult!”

“You handle your crushes like a shy dweeb that needs to get drunk first.”

“So, you admit that you DO have a crush on Ryan!” Michael exclaimed.

“What?! No, I didn’t!” Gavin said.

“Come on, you heard him admit it up front, right?” Jeremy asked Geoff and Jack, in the front.

“Yeah Gav, I did. But don’t let your ‘school boy crush’ get in the way of this treasure hunt,” Geoff called back.

“No, comment,” Jack replied.

“See?! Everyone heard you admit that you have a crush on Ryan, so, you’re not allowed to crawl back into your pit of denial. Everyone would know you’re a liar,” Michael argued.

“I…I… FINE I BLOODY DO HAVE CRUSH ON RYAN! ARE YOU BLOODY HAPPY?!” Gavin yelled.

“Huh?” Ryan asked, pulling his earbuds out. “Did someone mention me?” he asked.

“Nobody mentioned you, you self-obsessed prick!” Gavin quickly shot back. Ryan groaned an put his earbuds back in.

“And you’re still gonna be a prick to him, even though we know your game?” Michael asked.

“I thought you told me that I needed to act more confident and assertive with my crushes!”

“THIS ISN’T WHAT I MEANT! YOU’RE NOT ACTING MORE CONFIDENT AND ASSERTIVE, YOU’RE ACTING LIKE AN ASSHOLE!”

“WELL, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO BE CONFIDENT AND ASSERTIVE!”

“NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!”

“Can everybody be quiet?! Get your passports out, we’re approaching the Mexican border,” Geoff told the van.

Jeremy got Ryan to pause his music to tell him, an everyone got their passports out. Once everyone got their passports checked by border patrol, the van drove into Mexico.

“Viva la Méjico, boys!” Geoff said to the rest of the van.

Ryan winced and grabbed his forehead. “Ryan?” Jeremy asked.

“Sorry, I just… I had a sudden headache come on. Does anyone have any Tylenol or something?” Ryan asked. Jeremy nodded and fished for a bottle of Tylenol in the back.

“See, Gavin, your stupid douchey-ness gave Ryan a headache!” Michael exclaimed.

“Well, don’t yell. Loud noise will only aggravate the headache.” Jack said.

Well, it’s not like any of my stupid feelings matter, anyway,” Gavin said.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked.

“Well, I’m a jerk to him, so that probably is a turn off for any possible feeling of reciprocation Ryan could possibly have.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“It’s better off that way.”

“Gavin, you may be an idiot, but you shouldn’t sell yourself, that short,” Michael said, feeling a little bad for him.

“And even if my actions weren’t a turn off, I’m a guy. I probably wouldn’t even be his type in the first place.”

“No, I don’t want to hear any talk about sexuality. It was a mess when we talked about things pertaining to sexuality before. So, we’re not doing that, again,” Geoff said.

“Besides, I’ve unfortunately heard too many stories of his college hook-ups that could prove you wrong about you not being his type, Gav,” Jack said.

“Jack, you’re not helping.”

“What, you’re saying he could like a guy?” Gavin asked.

“Maybe…” Jack said.

“Psh, yeah right.”

“So, we’ve established that sexuality won’t be a problem. So, just don’t be a dick to your crush. It will make this treasure hunt go a lot smoother,” Michael said.

“I… it’s not that simple,” Gavin replied with a sigh.

“Actually, it is that simple. But I have an even simpler solution,” Geoff said.

“What? What’s that?”

“This trip is going to be a no-romance trip. No love. No crushes, period.”

“But, Geoff--”

“We have one goal, to find Achievement City. That’s it. We can’t be distracted by any romantic feeling we may feel towards other people. Gavin, you gotta keep your keep your feelings in check for the deration of this treasure hunt, understood?”

“I…” Gavin paused and sighed. “Yes, Geoffrey.” He leaned on the window and sighed again.

Michael leaned towards Jeremy. “Dude, we gotta get those two idiots together for everyone’s sanity,” he whispered.

“’I hear you,” Jeremy whispered back.

Michael placed his hand in the middle. “Operation: get the smart idiots together?”

Jeremy nodded and placed his hand on top. Their hands flew apart and the two of them began to whisper plans of getting Gavin and Ryan together.

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy y'all. Welcome to my fic of he semester. I'll clarify other things about this AU if I need to but hopefully I get more confident in my writing so I don't have to.


End file.
